MILWAUKEE (AP) 鈥� The Milwaukee Bucks' roller coaster season has hit its nadir with the playoffs less than two weeks away.
The Bucks have lost four straight games and six of their past seven. They鈥檙e 15-17 under after going 32-14 before his arrival.
Although Milwaukee (47-31) has a one-game lead over the Orlando Magic (46-32) and New York Knicks (46-32) in the race for the No. 2 seed in the playoffs behind the Boston Celtics, the Bucks could be facing another early exit if they don't turn things around.
鈥淒efinitely not a good feeling,鈥� two-time MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo said Sunday after the Bucks鈥� to the New York Knicks. 鈥淜ind of the environment on the team doesn鈥檛 feel right.鈥�
Antetokounmpo then went into more detail regarding his comment about the environment.
鈥淲hen you lose games, you don鈥檛 feel good,鈥� he said. 鈥淵ou鈥檙e not happy. If you go back home, you cannot sit down and watch Amazon Prime and be relaxed and enjoy your steak (or) some guys who drink, drink your wine or beer or whatever they drink. Or in my case, do my Legos. When I try to put my Legos in place, I鈥檓 more frustrated and I鈥檓 hurting my fingers and stuff. That鈥檚 what I mean by the environment not feeling good.
鈥淲e're not a losing team. We don't have that mentality. That's not in us.鈥�
The Bucks have been through plenty of upheaval ever since they had the league鈥檚 best regular-season record last year, but in the first round of the playoffs.
They and acquired star guard Budenholzer was replaced by Adrian Griffin, who midway through the season despite having a 30-13 record. Joe Prunty went 2-1 as an interim head coach before Rivers came aboard.
The coaching change was an indication the Bucks weren鈥檛 satisfied with their struggles on defense and uncomfortably close wins over losing teams during Griffin鈥檚 brief tenure. But the inconsistency has continued under Rivers.
The Bucks lost seven of They after the All-Star break. Now they鈥檙e slumping again.
鈥淭hese are the moments where you find out who鈥檚 a real one and who鈥檚 not, because everybody鈥檚 going to be saying negative stuff, how wrong it is and how bad it is,鈥� Lillard said. 鈥淵ou can fold or not fold. That鈥檚 what we鈥檙e going to learn about ourselves going into the playoffs, based on the experience we鈥檙e having right now.鈥�
Any comparison of the records under Griffin and Rivers should mention the extenuating circumstances.
Milwaukee鈥檚 schedule got significantly tougher after the coaching change. Sunday鈥檚 loss to the Knicks marked just the fourth time in the past 29 games that Antetokounmpo, Lillard and three-time All-Star Khris Middleton were all available, and Middleton left after getting hit in the mouth midway through the second quarter. Those three players were together for about two-thirds of the pre-Rivers games, though Middleton was on a minutes restriction for many of them.
But even without all of their top players, the Bucks have far more talent than the Wizards, and Raptors. All three of those teams have beaten the Bucks over the past week.
鈥淭his team is too talented, in my opinion, to go through this, no matter who鈥檚 been in and out,鈥� Rivers said. 鈥淓very team has guys out. I鈥檝e got to figure that out.鈥�
Reserve guard Pat Connaughton said after the loss to the Raptors that the Bucks needed to play with more joy. Antetokounmpo agreed with that assessment Sunday.
鈥淚t鈥檚 almost like we鈥檙e going through the motions,鈥� Antetokounmpo said. 鈥淲e鈥檝e got to find that joy back. In order for us to find that joy back, we鈥檝e got to move the ball. ... When everybody touches the ball, everybody has that energy.鈥�
The Bucks don鈥檛 have much time to find it before the postseason. Milwaukee has just four regular-season games left, and all are against playoff-bound teams. They host Boston on Tuesday and Orlando on Wednesday before visiting Oklahoma City on Friday and Orlando on Sunday.
The Bucks are confident they can still turn it around because of how well they鈥檝e played when they鈥檙e at their best. The Bucks just before the start of this tailspin.
鈥淓verybody just kept one another accountable (against the Thunder),鈥� Antetokounmpo said. 鈥淚 think sometimes we just don鈥檛. We just pick and choose. But the belief is there. The belief is there. But we鈥檝e got to get better. Throughout these four games, five games left, we鈥檝e got to build good habits. We鈥檝e got to watch film. We鈥檝e got to spend time together. Because if we don鈥檛, we鈥檙e probably going to be in trouble.鈥�
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AP NBA:
Steve Megargee, The Associated Press
